Invasion of Hell, Part IV: the Doorway
by secooper87
Summary: At the end of the pathway through Hell lies an unbreachable doorway. And it's up to Buffy to breach it.
1. Chapter 1

"They're called Daleks, and if they show up here, you're all dead," Buffy explained to the demons. "Trust me."

The demons laughed in her face.

It had been a long time since Buffy had arrived at the hellscape she couldn't save. She'd begun having terrible nightmares about it, after that point, seeing her daughter dead on its surface.

Once, she'd seen the First Slayer there, too.

 _A single act of kindness can change the course of history…_

The Dalek attacks on hell dimensions were getting more and more frequent. The Dalek strategies getting better and better. Buffy had seen them use the artifacts and magical rules of these hell dimensions to their own advantage, twisting the magic so it worked in their favor.

Once, when they'd done that, they'd ignited the air in the dimension, basically killing everyone in a single second. And leaving Buffy feeling crispy fried when she got to her next destination.

She'd been lucky to survive as long as she had.

"They're making a sweep of all the Hell Dimensions out there," Buffy told the demons. "Killing everyone in them and raiding leftover artifacts so they can better conquer the other Hell Dimensions. Chances are, they'll get here sooner or later. And you've got to be prepared."

Buffy sometimes wondered how long she'd spent in Hell, trying to get home.

It felt like years.

"Is this supposed to be a threat?" the demon warlord, Liptarnom, said. He grinned, teeth pointy and sharp like daggers. "We welcome the fight! And rest assured, the first thing your masters shall see, when they arrive, is you — your soul crushed and broken beneath my power."

Buffy gave a frustrated sigh, sweeping back her hair from her face. "Fine," she muttered. "Just giving you a heads up. I mean, seriously, why do I even bother?!"

She wished she had someone like Spike along with her.

They might _listen_ to him.

"Take her to the torture chambers," snarled Liptarnom. "I'll enjoy breaking this one's spirit the hard way, watching as every ounce of soul is snuffed—"

Buffy responded the second the demon hand fell on her arm. She grabbed it by the wrist, spun around and twisted it, viciously. Grabbed with the other hand, and snapped the bone.

"I used to go into Hell Dimensions and just kill all the demons," Buffy said, "then liberate the people trapped here. But these days, I find it's more useful keeping you guys alive." She twisted the arm, again, and the demon howled. "You're the first to strike the Daleks — and that means you draw Dalek firepower. The others have a chance to get away, while the Daleks are busy exterminating you."

The other demons nearby surged at Buffy, but she was prepared.

Squatted into a crouch, then sprung into a leap in the air as they were about to reach her, letting them all collide with one another below. Flipping down beside them, punching one in the head, flipping another onto its back, kicking a third and using the momentum to shoot herself back through the air, grab a sword off a nearby guard, and decapitate him with it.

She spun around.

"Have fun facing the Daleks alone," said Buffy, heading out the room. "I'm giving your tortured slaves some words of advice. Then I'm off. I've got a daughter to rescue."

"And if we say we believe you?" Liptarnom called after her. "If we ask for your help?"

Buffy paused, in the doorway.

Glanced over her shoulder. "You gotta stop torturing people, and set everyone here free," she warned. "That was condition number one, and I'm not budging from it."

"Provided your words are true," Liptarnom replied, "and these 'Daleks' are real. Then, yes."

Buffy regarded him, coolly.

Her warrior-face on, never wavering or melting.

"I don't believe you," Buffy said.

"Believe the deal I offer you, then," said Liptarnom. Taking a step towards her. "I will do what you say. Prepare the armaments and battle tactics you advise. You will be in charge of organizing our defenses — and organizing whether or not our slaves are protected by them."

Buffy didn't answer.

"But you remain my slave until the day your… 'Daleks' show up," Liptarnom said. "Under my domination and control. I will feed the influence of the Ewsharol Amulet into you, and you will be unable to defy me."

Buffy had noticed the non-demons around here, working for Liptarnom. She'd guessed there was some kind of enslaving amulet or charm or gemstone here.

There usually was.

"Yeah, and once you get me brainwashed and working for you, you're gonna decide never to let me or the other slaves go." Buffy shook her head. "Come on! I've been to way too many Hells to fall for _that_ one."

"If you don't cooperate, the ensouled slaves will be the first fed to the Daleks, while we escape," said Liptarnom. "Can you stand their deaths on your conscience?"

"I can't save everyone," Buffy replied.

Turning away.

"You won't escape here," Liptarnom warned her, as she walked away. "Others have tried, before you! None have succeeded."

Buffy didn't answer.

She couldn't save everyone.

But there was one person she _needed_ to save. The one Sineya had told her — specifically — was in danger. And Buffy would walk through every Hell Dimension in existence to save her.

* * *

One of the demons laughed, as he flayed an alien-looking creature — one with a single large eye, and legs and arms sprouting from a wide body that doubled as a wrinkled and worn face.

The demon didn't have eyes in the back of its head.

Lucky for Buffy.

She hurled the sword through the demon's back, then dragged it upwards, slicing the demon clean in half. She'd made the mistake of not killing demons thoroughly enough, in other hell dimensions. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

"I'm Buffy," Buffy told the tortured man, freeing him. "I'm just here to warn you that Daleks — these seriously evil metal pepper pot things — are heading your way. And you gotta get ready, if you want to survive it."

The man looked at her with pity in his eye.

"You think you can escape this dimension before they arrive, don't you?" he asked. As the last chain was freed from his final arm, he wiggled them out. Trying to regain his balance and composure. "You can't. There's no way out of here."

"I've got a way," Buffy said. "I've been travelling through all the Hell Dimensions. Trust me."

"And your way won't work, here!" the man said. He panted for breath. "Do you think you're the first traveler across the dimensions of Hell to land in this place?"

Buffy hesitated.

"I was taken by the Scourge," the man said. "Escaped along the astral plane. I came here, thinking I could continue the same way. But the Doorway is sealed. Not even Liptarnom can open it." He gestured at the dimension around him. "This is journey's end."

"But I've got super magic technology!" Buffy insisted. "It'll work against—"

"It's said that once, a long time ago, the CroSSScape opened the gates to Hell," said the man, "to retrieve their god. An entire universe was nearly wiped out, as every Dimension of Hell came crashing through the gateway. After the near catastrophe, this place was established, as a safeguard. A final Doorway, before the Gate."

Buffy looked around herself.

Then shook her head. "I can't believe it," she decided. "This isn't the end. It can't be! I'm not sticking around in Hell forever."

She turned.

Heading off into the distance. Her eyes fixed on her ring.

"No, this isn't real — it's just defeatist stuff from people stuck so long in hell dimensions that they've given up hope," Buffy decided. She could already feel her ring beginning to get warmer. The hints of a glow. "But I can't. My daughter needs me."

The man struggled to follow her. Calling out that it wouldn't work.

Buffy didn't care.

She just kept following that glow, more and more, until…

Buffy yelped, stumbling backwards, shaking out her hand. The ring had begun sparking, simmering and sizzling. Its glow turning different colors, as if it couldn't figure out what to do next.

"That's the Doorway," said the man. Managing to catch up. "The ultimate safeguard. Even if you do manage to break through the defenses, actually passing through the gateway will make this entire dimension collapse to a singularity."

"Killing whoever's trying to break out in the first place," Buffy muttered. Stepping away from it, her hand still aching. "Yeah. Pretty good safeguard."

She looked around herself.

Finally figuring out why Liptarnom had let her go so easily, without even sending a guard or demon soldiers after her.

"Liptarnom knew that if I was serious about the Daleks, I'd have to come back," said Buffy. Her eyes drifting towards Liptarnom's stronghold, chiseled into the red mountainside. "Because I can't run away from here. And my only hope of surviving the Daleks is to give in to Liptarnom's demands."

The man nodded.

"And he wasn't surprised that some army was coming to invade this place, either," Buffy said. "This kind of thing happens a lot, here, huh?"

"Not just the ensouled travel through Hell," said the man. "Many demons have come here, too. Trying to escape hell so they can conquer and rule the universe that lies beyond the Gate."

"But they get trapped here," Buffy sighed. Looked like 'Warlord' was a pretty good description for Liptarnom. The latest in a long line of demons stuck outside the universe, who conquered this place because they couldn't go any further.

Couldn't get to… 'the Gate'.

And if that Gate led back home… if it could take her to her own universe…!

Buffy thrust the thought out of her mind.

She'd figure all that stuff out later. Right now, she had bigger things on her mind to worry about. Because if this place attracted everyone wandering through Hell…

Then the Daleks were definitely coming. No doubt about it.

And there was nowhere for anyone to flee to, when they showed up.

"I guess this means I've got no choice," Buffy muttered. Heading towards Liptarnom's stronghold. "If I don't want this place turning into Exterminate-o-rama, I've got to get taken over by Liptarnom's stupid amulet."

The man grabbed Buffy back. "No!"

"Look, you've got no idea just what the Daleks can do," Buffy snapped, spinning back around to face him. "They out-evilled _Hell_ , okay? And if this is the end of the line, there's no resorting to my normal luring-them-to-a-different-hell-dimension-before-they-realize-they-haven't-exterminated-everyone trick." She swung the sword through the air, testing out its weight — just in case she'd have to use it to get back in to see Liptarnom. "So if I want anyone here to survive, I've got to go where the weapons are."

And if Liptarnom had come here planning to invade the universe…

Buffy was guessing he had a lot more weapons tucked away than he was letting on.

"They say the amulet drains your soul," said the man. "I've heard… Liptarnom keeps a supply of immortal souls in the bank vault beneath his stronghold. He believes he'll need them for the Gate."

Buffy didn't hope to understand this.

But it didn't suggest great things to her about the Gate, when she actually got there.

"Then I'll just have to be smarter than Liptarnom," Buffy said. Making her way to the stronghold. "Wish me luck."


	2. Chapter 2

Liptarnom chuckled, as Buffy Summers returned.

He knew she would.

He'd smelled fear on her, when she spoke about the 'Daleks'.

"I'll help you," said Buffy, "but no amulet. I do this out of my own free will."

Liptarnom gave a brutish laugh. "I've been through too many layers of Hell to fall for _that_."

"You don't have to trust me to know I'm telling the truth," Buffy argued. She plunged her sword into the ground, to make a point. "It's in both our best interests to work together. If I overthrow you guys, I just create disorder and chaos before the Daleks arrive. Then there's no hope for anyone."

"Which means that to protect yourself and all the others," Liptarnom concluded, gesturing at the demons nearby, "you won't fight back when we place you under the amulet's thrall. You'll fight much better without a soul."

Buffy raised up her hands. "And you'll never get to the Gate."

Liptarnom's smile dropped. As he barked out an order to stop his demon minions, in their tracks. He eyed this puny little ensouled creature up and down. Taking her in.

"Explain," Liptarnom demanded.

Buffy took a folded paper out of her jacket pocket. Threw it at Liptarnom, who caught it. Unfolded it, his eyes on its content.

"I've been writing these things the whole time," said Buffy. "My daughter knows where I am. And she happens to be a very powerful multi-dimensional Key — able to unlock any dimensional doorway in existence."

The words on the page seemed to imply the same thing.

As if this same child had already managed to rip open a gateway to somewhere else, to rescue Buffy Summers, but had been tricked into condemning her mother to Hell, instead.

"If Seo shows up here," Buffy argued, "and you've already drained my soul…"

"Then I lose my bargaining chip," Liptarnom realized. He crinkled the letter in his hand. The love and compassion floating through the words spoke of weakness — but the woman who stood before him was not weak. He knew, from her combat skills thus far and her arguments for her own soul, that she was wise and powerful.

It wouldn't do to underestimate her.

Nor would it do to lose such a valuable potential asset to his army.

"You know that if you turn against me," Liptarnom warned, "I will destroy you in seconds."

Buffy shrugged.

Liptarnom got up from his elaborate throne. His long foot-claws clacking against the stone floor, with every step.

Examining this 'Buffy Summers'. And realizing… whatever or whoever she was… she was something different. Not just something he could use to get to the Gate — but something he wanted for himself, afterwards.

One with the potential to be his greatest warrior.

"Then we must prepare for battle," Liptanorm told Buffy. "Warrior creature."

* * *

One of the first things Buffy did was get rid of the torture pits and hell stuff.

"We're training an army, here," Buffy argued. "They need to spend the time preparing and learning to fight. Not getting flayed over pits of fire or whatever."

"I will use my amulet," Liptarnom said. "Turn them all to my purpose."

Buffy put her hands on her hips. "Yeah? And just what's the success rate on your amulet, Mr. Invade-The-Universe Warlord?"

Liptarnom didn't answer.

"I've done the whole leading-armies thing before," said Buffy. "And if you're heading out to invade the universe, you're going to do it with a lot more demons that you've got working for you, now. So either you've lost basically everyone along the way — which makes me wonder how the hell you managed to take this place over from your predecessor — or you came here with _tons_ of hell demons, and only found the amulet later."

Liptarnom's lips formed a thin line.

But he still didn't speak.

"And anyways, I know how sketchy the whole draining-souls thing can be," said Buffy. "I'm a Vampire Slayer. I've seen way more than my fair share of sirings. Taking away someone's soul is a gamble — you never know who you'll end up with at the end. Could be a warrior. Could be a psychopath."

"A warrior kills your enemy, but a psychopath kills _you_ ," Liptarnom muttered. "I am familiar with this."

Buffy Summers gave him a smug grin.

Knowing she'd won.

"If the freed slaves rise in revolt against me," Liptarnom warned, "you will die in excruciating agony, Buffy Summers. Remember that."

She'd figured he'd say something like that.

She also figured he'd have other safeguards in place, to make sure the population didn't rise up against him after the Dalek attack was over. He was arrogant and warlike, completely devoid of mercy, but he wasn't stupid.

No one who came this far was stupid.

Buffy observed that, when she went through the slave quarters, meeting the people who were about to become her army. Everyone here was a traveler — someone who'd been smart enough or strong enough to escape from Hell and find a way to travel across dimensions.

They were kept weak on purpose, because Liptarnom knew they were a threat.

And — Buffy suspected — they were kept alive on purpose, too. Because if Liptarnom could ever perfect the amulet so it worked perfectly to instill loyalty into those it controlled, the people here would make a truly formidable fighting force.

Buffy didn't need brain control to manipulate people, though.

She just told them the truth.

"I've seen Hell Dimensions that thought they were prepared," said Buffy. "They thought nothing could defeat them. The demons who ran them were full of secret super-powers, immortal and invincible. And I watched every single one of those dimensions fall to the Daleks."

They questioned. They prodded. They tried to find a way that they'd be different, against the Daleks. But the more Buffy told them about her adventures in Hell, the more they realized she was right.

They had to stick together.

Or every single one of them would die.

"Usually, I get people to retreat to somewhere else, while the Daleks are busy exterminating the demons," Buffy told them. "Or get the Daleks to leave before they've killed _everyone_. That's the only way I've found, so far, to save people." She took a long, deep breath. "But it's not going to work, this time. There's nowhere left to run, so we've got to stand and fight."

"You said shooting a projectile at the eyestalk would kill them!" someone yelled.

"Yeah, it _did_ ," Buffy agreed. "Until they picked up the Shield of Gritumor, in this one Hell Dimension that smelled like burning rubber. Eyestalk's out of the question, now."

"Can they kill each other?" another asked.

"They can, and if you can trick them into hitting another one, that usually works," Buffy acknowledged. "But if you think you can kill one, steal its gun, and use it to blast apart all the others… well, that only worked once. Then the Daleks wised up to it, and found a way to make their guns stop working in enemy hands."

"Is there a way for us to use that against them?" asked someone else in the crowd. "Some instruction in the guns that we can trigger, making all their guns shut down at once — even in the Daleks' hands?"

Buffy considered.

Then gave a small smile.

"If anyone could work out how," she said, "that could work."

"Mervengyl claims to have escaped from a Dalek prison, once before," someone else offered. "She says it's by escaping their prison that she wound up in Hell in the first place."

That wound up being useful.

As Buffy followed up the lead, and found Mervengyl — a blue skinned octopus-looking woman, with silvery patterns along her skin. Mervengyl had been scarred by her encounter with the Daleks. And the escape into Hell had left her missing tentacles — sheered off in a dimensional fracture, she said.

"It's said… no one ever escapes the Daleks," Mervengyl said. Her voice still shook with the memory. "The Daleks had been using my people for experimentation. I thought I'd die. But I wanted to take them down with me. I found a way to trigger a dimensional catastrophe that swallowed their ship — and found myself in Hell."

Buffy outlined the plan to Mervengyl:

First, they find some way to convince the Dalek armor that its gun was in enemy hands. Use that to shut down all the Dalek guns at once. Then go in and overpower them using Liptarnom's arsenal of weaponry, before they had a chance to work out how to override the problem.

Mervengyl thought it through.

"Can you do it?" Buffy asked.

"I… think so," Mervengyl said. She cringed. "But you'll have to capture one for me, first. So I can tinker with it."

Buffy figured this was the best she was going to get.

Which meant it was now up to her to organize a trap to capture a live Dalek, then come up with some delay tactic while Mervengyl worked on it. And find a way to work this all to her advantage, at the end, so that after the Daleks were defeated, her mob of the ensouled could overpower Liptarnom and be free forever.

She was still thinking through how to do this all, when the man she'd rescued earlier — the one with the single large eye and legs and hands sprouting from his face-body — came to rest beside her.

"I have a question," he said.

Buffy looked over. Grinned. "Hey, Spiderman! Good to see you."

The man seemed confused. "My name is Yiprit."

"Yeah, I meant…" Buffy sighed, then waved it away. "Forget it. What's up?"

"You say the Daleks feel nothing but hate and anger," said Yiprit. "You've seen them destroy demons you thought were impossible to defeat. You've watched them wipe out entire dimensions without leaving a single soul alive."

Buffy stared into the distance.

Remembering.

She felt dead inside, just thinking about it.

"How did _you_ survive?" Yiprit asked.

"I ran," said Buffy.

"Others must have run, too," Yiprit replied. "But you're the only one who's made it here."

Buffy didn't answer.

She'd tried to save people. Of course she had.

But she couldn't save everyone. And sometimes… she couldn't save _anyone_.

"Mervengyl says no one escapes from the Daleks," said Yiprit. "She did, once. And wound up in Hell. But you've escaped them so many times, you've lost count."

"I'm not proud of running," said Buffy. She hung her head. "I just didn't know what else to do."

Yiprit didn't answer.

"Look, I try to save people," Buffy said. "But sometimes, there's nothing I can do. And I know that if I don't get out of there, pretty fast, I'll be dead like everyone else." She buried her face in her hands. "I guess, I'm just a coward. That's why I'm still alive."

Yiprit didn't look like he believed that. Not for a moment.

"And maybe I got a bit lucky, too," Buffy added.

"No one's as lucky as you've been, Buffy Summers," said Yiprit.

Buffy frowned.

Snapped her head up, to stare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You say the Daleks have gone through Hell, bent on destroying everything and everyone in their wake," said Yiprit, getting up and stretching his legs. "But that's not what happened."

Buffy glared at him. "You think?"

"The Daleks went through Hell," Yiprit told her, "bent on destroying everything and everyone in their wake. _Except for you_." He turned away from her. "Think about that."


	3. Chapter 3

Liptarnom found Buffy rummaging through his armory, late that night.

She'd knocked out all his guards, then broken into the armory, looking through each of the weapons in a kind of fury, trying to find one in particular.

"Does your species not sleep?" Liptarnom asked, leaning against the doorway to the armory. He had carefully arranged a shield zone between himself and her, just in case she got any ideas.

But watching her, now, he didn't think _he_ was the one who needed to worry.

"Tried to sleep," said Buffy. Picking up a long, skinny pole weapon, then shaking her head and discarding it. "Couldn't. Nightmares."

A nightmare, apparently, that had terrified her.

"And what do heroes have nightmares about?" said Liptarnom. "Daleks?"

Buffy paused, another weapon in her hands. She went very still.

"You'd think, huh?" Buffy put the weapon down. Took a long, deep breath. "I always thought the worst Hell would be having to watch, helpless, as everyone I cared about died around me." She glanced back at Liptarnom. "Since I started going through Hell, that's happened to me over and over again. And I've found out… there's something worse."

Liptarnom was intrigued. "Such as…?"

"Showing up after it's all over," said Buffy, turning back to the weapons. Picking one up, and examining it, carefully. "And everyone's already dead. Knowing you could have saved people — but you came too late."

Her voice shook.

"That's my worst Hell," said Buffy. "My worst nightmare. Seeing everyone I care about most, dead, without even getting the chance to try to save them."

Liptarnom regarded her, carefully.

"The one who locked you away in Hell," Liptarnom said. "She's in your universe, isn't she? Seeking to destroy the ones you love."

Buffy didn't answer.

She didn't have to.

"You ensouled creatures are so weak," Liptarnom sneered. "Terrified by such a trivial fear!"

"I can't save everyone," Buffy muttered. "But I have to _try_."

She began to rummage through the weapons, yet again. Even more determined, now. A fire burning inside of her.

It was that fire, Liptarnom knew, that made her so dangerous.

And incredibly valuable, in the right hands.

"So now that I've admitted that," Buffy said, examining a small bubble-looking device, in detail, "you wanna tell me why you keep looking at me like I'm your favorite happy-meal, or something?"

"You… intrigue me," said Liptarnom.

"More than anyone else who got here?" Buffy discarded the weapon. Grabbed up another, small and furry, which squeaked a little when she tried to examine it. "There are lots of people down in your slave camps who are way smarter and way stronger than me."

Liptarnom didn't answer.

He didn't think there were any words to describe how she was unique.

But he would make her part of his army, if he had to take away every ounce of her free will to do it.

"I'm just asking because it's not the first time this has happened," said Buffy. She set down the furry object, and picked up one that was pulsing and a little slimy, instead. "Dracula singled me out. So did both Masters — Vampire and Time Lord. Even the First Evil seemed more interested in toying with me than in actually killing me — until after I whooped its ass in the Battle of the Hellmouth." She pressed something in the slimy weapon, and it opened up. Buffy looking inside, intrigued. "And then there's the Daleks. They wanted my brain before, yeah — but those Daleks were fighting the Slayers. They'd heard of me. These Daleks haven't."

She nodded, in approval, at the weapon in her hands.

Then turned back to Liptarnom.

"Yiprit thinks they've been keeping me alive for a reason," said Buffy. "And I want to know why."

Liptarnom didn't answer her.

Instead, gestured at the weapon in her hands. "What is the purpose of that weapon?"

"This thing?" Buffy looked down at it. "I read something about this, way back, when I was scouring Giles' books for the worst possible monsters, trying to find ways to pretend they'd shown up in Sunnydale so the Doctor wouldn't…" She paused. A small smile on her face, as she was lost in a happier memory. Then the expression fell back into seriousness. As she remembered where she was. "There was this monster — the Axer-Backer Whatever — who always carried around a mystical charm that could absorb certain kinds of energy."

"And this is the charm?" said Liptarnom. "How could you know it would be here?"

"I didn't," said Buffy. Lowering it. "But when I faked the monster, the Doctor told me he was surprised to see it in Sunnydale, because he'd already sent it to Hell through a dimensional fissure. He also led me to imply he'd banished the monster while facing down Daleks, and had done something to the charm to work to his advantage against them."

"Who is this… 'Doctor'?" asked Liptarnom.

"In short? Mr. Beat-Up-the-Daleks," Buffy replied. Jumping down from the pile of weapons, eyes still on the charm in her hand. "I mean, with all the Hell-style modifications the Daleks have made since they got here, I'm guessing this charm is probably going to do zip. But… if Yiprit's right… if they really _don't_ want to kill me, for some reason…" She tapped the weapon, thoughtfully. "…then they'll pretend they're scared of it. Play along until they can get me where they want me — or until I can turn the tables on them, first."

A grin played across Liptarnom's face.

Yes.

Soul or no, this one was valuable.

Anyone who couldn't see that… was an idiot.

* * *

Buffy spent the next week working tirelessly, trying to get her plans together. Mervengyl busied herself, pitching in whenever she could. The others all helped, too. As they pulled together to create a unified army and a watertight plan to defeat the Daleks.

Buffy tried to avoid Yiprit.

Because every time they spoke, he mentioned things to her that she didn't know if she wanted to hear.

"Liptarnom wants you for some strategy, on the other side of the Gate," Yiprit pointed out. "If the Daleks have been keeping you alive… is that what they want, too?"

"Daleks have been after me before," Buffy insisted. Trying to rush away before he could distract her. "They just wanted to dump my brain into their supercomputer. I'm guessing these guys want the same thing."

Yiprit chased after her. "You care a great deal about those on the other side of the Gate," he called out. "You've been braving the most torturous Hells to return to them. Your worst nightmare is arriving too late to save them. Your talk implies that these friends of yours are beings of great power."

Buffy tried to lose Yiprit in the crowd.

"What if the Daleks are after you," Yiprit shouted, "because you can lead the Daleks to _them_?"

"Then I'll save them!" Buffy snapped. Trying to busy herself with something else, so he'd leave her alone. "I'm the Slayer. I always show up in time to save my friends."

"Time," Yiprit repeated.

Buffy turned to some others, began to train them in precision shooting of high-impact super-weapons, whilst reciting mystical incantations that worked nowhere except this hell dimension.

Yiprit interrupted her.

"You've been talking about time a lot, recently," said Yiprit. "Your greatest fear is that you'll show up too late. You've had prophecy dreams about your future, confirming this might really happen. And you claim to have stopped counting the number of days you've been in Hell." He inspected her. "Just how long has it been since you left your universe in the hands of your enemy?"

Buffy didn't want to answer that.

After a year, she decided it was better not to count, anymore.

Kept insisting to herself that time didn't flow at the same rate here as it did at home. She had to believe that. Even if she suspected… the truth was far more complicated…

"I'm not going to work with the Daleks," Buffy insisted. "No matter what."

Yiprit stared at her. "Work with the Daleks?!"

"Time travel," said Buffy, turning away. "They've got time travel. But time doesn't work like that — I get it. Not even if you'd give up everything and anything to change things, make sure people didn't die when they did, sometimes… you just can't."

She wondered just how far she'd go, though. If that were ever really put to the test.

Yiprit didn't say anything.

He was staring at her as if she were some kind of traitor or something. And Buffy hated it.

"She's going to be fine, when I get back," Buffy gritted, through her teeth. "They'll all be fine. It doesn't matter how long it took me to get here — I'm almost home, now. And I'm going to make sure I'm there to protect them."


	4. Chapter 4

She tried to write a letter to Seo, that night.

To remind herself that Seo was still alive.

She abandoned the attempt after one sentence. She couldn't think about it — not when she was this close to getting home. Not when she knew there was only an impossible Doorway and an impossible Gate to break through.

She went to sleep.

Trying to think of Daleks.

They might be scarier than Hell, but they were nowhere near as scary as the inescapable tides of time.

* * *

Buffy returned to her nightmare.

The landscape just as she remembered it, in the Hell Dimension she couldn't save. But every face along the ground was someone she knew. She found Willow, there. Dead. Xander. Dawn. The Doctor and Angel and Spike and Jack and Gwen and Alison and…

And…

She couldn't stop the tears, when she saw the body of her daughter.

Dead.

Staring at nothing. The face that had once been so lively and brilliant and wonderful, now cold and stiff, devoid of any expression except utter pain and betrayal.

"You should have regenerated!" Buffy shouted. Grabbing the body into her arms. "You can't be dead! You can't!"

But she knew — in that way that one only did in dreams — that Elizabeth had found some way to stop it. Elizabeth had pretended to be Buffy, tricked and deceived every one of Buffy's closest friends and family. Gained the knowledge she needed from them.

Then murdered them all.

Cruelly.

Brutally.

"No," Buffy sobbed. Rocking the body of her dead daughter. "Come back! Come back!"

"How far would you go to revenge them?" came a familiar voice.

Buffy looked back.

And found Yiprit, standing on his many legs, just behind her. The light from the leaves on the burnt-out trees reflecting against his face, making him look almost ghoulish.

"You know where to find some of the most dangerous artifacts in the universe," said Yiprit. He gestured at the dead bodies around him. "These people trusted you to keep their locations secret. Are you going to use them?"

Buffy didn't answer.

"The Daleks want to keep you alive," Yiprit said. "They're smart enough to open the Doorway. Open the Gate. Play along, and after you get back to your universe, you could steal their time technology. Go back and undo all of this."

"No," Buffy said, because she knew she was supposed to say it.

"Why not?" Yiprit crept forwards. His eye fixed on Seo. "She almost tore apart the universe, to get you back. She'd do it again. Wouldn't _you_ do the same thing for _her_?"

They were the words gnawing at Buffy's insides, all the time.

Just how far would she go to prevent the disaster she feared most?

"I can't," Buffy whispered.

"You know, she blamed herself for what happened to you," said Yiprit. But it wasn't really Yiprit speaking, anymore. It was Buffy's whole mind, every ounce of Buffy's fear, echoing around them, seeping through into that horrible place. "That's why she didn't regenerate. Because she was so horrified by the thought that she'd killed you, she couldn't bear to live on."

Buffy looked over at the other people who should have survived this. At Jack. At the Doctor. Both dead when they should have kept living.

"Oh, yeah, them too," Yiprit — and the landscape around them — told her. "Elizabeth didn't just murder them. She made sure they died knowing this was all their faults. That they'd killed you. She made them _want_ to die — so much so that they did."

"No!" Buffy screamed.

"It's true," said Yiprit. "You might have been wandering through Hell, Buffy, watching everyone you met be exterminated by Daleks — but that's _nothing_ compared to what Elizabeth put them through before she murdered them."

The landscape blew away, Yiprit with it, leaving Buffy in Liptarnom's armory. Dead Seo still cradled in her arms.

Liptarnom looked on at her.

The way he always did. Greedily. Like she was everything he most wanted.

"You can do anything, Buffy," he snarled. His teeth glimmering in the candlelight. "Did really you think _she_ wouldn't be able to?"

"This isn't real!" Buffy insisted. "It's just a nightmare! I can wake up!"

"It's all real," Liptarnom replied. "They're all dead, Buffy. Because you didn't show up in time to save them. Like the Hell you couldn't save — all those human beings dead, because you showed up too late."

"I'm not too late!" Buffy said. "Sineya said my daughter was still alive! In danger, but… alive!"

"And how long ago did she say that?" Liptarnom asked. "How much might have happened, since then, in the outside universe?"

Buffy didn't know.

It made her shudder.

"I'm going to get out before it's too late!" Buffy insisted. "I'm going to save Seo! Save everyone! I'm… I'm going to…!"

The landscape faded into darkness.

Liptarnom's form shifting and changing to that other-version of Buffy's own self. The one with the cold, cruel expression on her face and the craziness in her eyes.

There was no one and nothing surrounding Buffy except the dead bodies of the friends she'd failed to save.

"Yeah?" said Elizabeth. Crossing her arms. "What are you gonna do to me?"

Buffy got to her feet.

Stalking towards her other-self. Eyes blazing. Utter fury racing through her.

She hadn't killed Glory, even when Glory nearly murdered her sister and the whole multiverse. She'd forgiven Spike. She'd forgiven Angel. She'd always maintained that she'd never kill humans — even if they'd tortured her friends.

But this wasn't a human being, anymore.

It was herself.

Buffy reached out, and found the Scythe in her hands. Still drenched in Caleb's blood. And, with a lunge, slashed out at Elizabeth.

"Give them back to me!" she screamed. Striking again and again. "Give them back!"

* * *

Buffy woke up.

An alarm was sounding in the distance.

She jumped to her feet. Dressing quickly as she could. She knew exactly what this meant.

The Daleks had just come through.

The battle had begun.


	5. Chapter 5

"We found one," called a hovering giant head — one of Buffy's army — drifting towards her. "Separated from all the others. I've lured it here. It's in the perfect spot to see you."

Buffy clutched the weapon to her, tightly. "Everyone else is in position," she said. Shooed the head away with her free hand. "Now go, before it shows up and exterminates you. Attack some of the flying Daleks, instead."

The floating head nodded.

Then surged off into the distance, trying to do his best to attack the flying Daleks.

Buffy tried not to think about all the people she'd met and grown close to, this past week, who'd die in this attack. She never did, facing down Daleks. The last time she'd been this cold and expressionless was her fight against the First.

Then, as now, she knew she couldn't allow herself to feel.

Or she'd fall apart.

The familiar sound of approaching Dalek sprung fear in Buffy's heart, and she had to do everything in her power not to turn tail and run before the Dalek ever showed up.

She reminded herself — the Daleks wanted her alive.

That made her the perfect bait.

It rounded the corner. Caught sight of Buffy.

"HALT!" it shouted. "HALT! OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Buffy spun around and fled.

The extermination beams whizzing past her, as she belted forwards. But… missing her. Always missing. Like they were being _aimed_ to miss her.

Damn.

Yiprit was right.

"EXTERMINATE!" the Dalek called out, pursuing her, as she turned into a dead-end alleyway. "EXTERMIN—"

"Remember this?" Buffy shouted, thrusting up the slimy weapon she'd retrieved from the armory. "Exterminate me, and you go up in smoke."

The Dalek paused.

Then crept forwards, its plunger extending towards it. "SCANNING…"

"Now!" Buffy shouted at those around her.

They leapt out of their hiding spots, each with a different kind of weapon from a different kind of Hellmouth that used different energies. Buffy tossed the slimy weapon to another person, who tossed her his own weapon. Then she tossed that one on, replaced by yet another.

All of them exchanging weapons faster than anyone could process, each weapon being waved in front of the Dalek's sensors and then replaced in a matter of only seconds.

None of these weapons could even scratch the Dalek through the protection of the Shield of Gritumor.

But they didn't need to.

They were all from different hell dimensions. With different laws of physics. That's all Buffy needed.

The Dalek juddered back. Suddenly panicked.

"SCANNER OVERLOAD!" the Dalek screamed. "TOO MUCH CONTRADICTORY DATA! DATABASE ERROR! DATABASE…!"

The panic made the Dalek unable to maintain the shield, just for a split second.

"Shield's down!" Buffy shouted. "Get its gun!"

A lumbering giant ogre swept in, at her command, and yanked the gun stalk out of the Dalek's casing.

"ALERT! ALERT!" the Dalek cried, swiveling around, freaking out. "MY WEAPON IS IMPAIRED! MY WEAPON IS…!"

A purple finned creature, irritated, threw the slimy weapon thing at the Dalek. "Oh, shut up, already!"

The slimy weapon lodged itself right where the gun stalk used to be.

The Dalek jolted, yet again.

Then its eyestalk drooped, and the light inside it dimmed.

"Hey, good throw, Komiwy!" Buffy said. She stepped forwards, tentatively nudging the Dalek. No response. "I think you actually got past even its non-magical shields, and gave it a temporary shut-down."

"Mervengyl?" Komiwy called out, swerving around to face the figure cowering in the shadows. "Time to do your thing."

Mervengyl stepped forwards. Mustering all her courage, to face down the enemies she'd feared more than any others. Took the gun stalk from the ogre, and set to work.

"Buy me time," Mervengyl said, as she and several others pushed the Dalek into Liptarnom's stronghold. "I'll let you know the moment I get the guns off-line."

"I think we'll have a pretty good idea when you get the guns off-line," said Buffy, heading back to the front-lines with the ogre and several others. "Be quick as you can."

* * *

Mervengyl had never actually broken into the Dalek command net. She'd thought it would be easier than it actually was. But she was nearly an hour in, and still… no sign of any progress.

She wiped her forehead, her tentacles shaking.

Then jumped, as the Dalek eyestalk rose, suddenly. Glaring at her with that hateful blue light.

"YOU WILL CEASE," the Dalek demanded. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

"You… you can't," Mervengyl squeaked. "You don't have a gun, anymore."

The Dalek twitched around, agitated.

But it was chained up too tightly to escape, and its gun was long-since gone. Mervengyl wasn't letting that anywhere near the Dalek.

"You can't touch me," Mervengyl assured herself. Turning back to her work, trying to get the Dalek guns offline, en masse. "So I don't have to be afraid of you."

"TEST SUBJECT 00198," said the Dalek.

Mervengyl froze.

"TEST SUBJECT 00198," said the Dalek, extending its plunger towards her. "IMPLANTED WITH SERVATOR NANOPARTICLES, TO CREATE PROTOTYPE NANO-DALEK BRAIN FUNCTIONS WHEN REQUIRED. TEST SUCCESSFUL."

"I'm not your test subject anymore," said Mervengyl. "I've put that behind me! You can't boss me—!"

Then she froze.

A blank look coming across her face.

"SERVATOR PARTICLES ACTIVATED," the Dalek reported. "YOU WILL OBEY DALEK ORDERS."

"I… obey," said Mervengyl.

Her voice faint and distant.

"YOU WILL REPLACE THE GUN STALK INTO THIS DALEK CASING," the Dalek commanded. "YOU WILL RELEASE ME. THEN YOU WILL DROP THE BARRIER LEADING INTO THE STRONGHOLD. THE DALEKS WILL TAKE CONTROL OF THE ARMORY."

Mervengyl was already replacing the gun stalk, even before the Dalek finished his command.

"I obey," Mervengyl said. "I will obey all Dalek commands."

She stood up, straight. Releasing the chains, steadily, one by one, the blank expression never wavering from her face.

Then she screamed.

Doubling over, as something intangible was yanked from deep down inside of her.

A soul.

Liptarnom stepped into the room, an amulet nestled in his hands. "Back under my control, now," he snarled. "Mervengyl. Kill that Dalek."

"EXTERMINATE!" shouted the Dalek.

In two swift gun shots, it struck both Mervengyl and Liptarnom squarely in the chest. They screamed, as they crumpled over and died. Other demons raced into the room, but too late.

The Dalek killed all except one.

Then turned on the last demon. Shot the weapon out of his hands.

"YOU WILL OBEY DALEK COMMANDS," the Dalek said, "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

The demon minion cowered. Then accepted.

The Dalek spun back to the dead body of Liptarnom. Extending its plunger arm towards the amulet. "YOU WILL EXPLAIN THE FUNCTION OF THIS DEVICE."

"It… it… is supposed to drain the soul," said the demon. "Get everyone under your control. But it doesn't work right! It is…"

"IT IS DAMAGED," the Dalek confirmed. The plunger arm flexed, and part of the amulet — which had appeared to be welded to the rest of it — shifted around in a circle. "DAMAGE REPAIRED."

The demon saw his chance.

With the Dalek distracted, the demon lunged for a gun. Began to shoot at the Dalek, with concentrated bursts of fire power.

"You won't take my mind," the demon shouted.

"THAT IS CORRECT," said the Dalek. Scooping the amulet up with its plunger arm. Then turning around, almost casually, to face the demon. Unaffected by the gun. "THE DALEKS DO NOT NEED TO CONTROL MINDS."

It fired.

The demon screamed, skeleton illuminating.

Then fell to the ground. Dead.

"WE WILL EXTERMINATE THEM," the Dalek said. Turning to return to its superiors. Armed with the one object they needed to win victory.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: And the end!

Next up... "A Single Act of Kindness". We've reached the home stretch people!

(That means that the next three stories follow on directly after each other. "A Single Act of Kindness" leads directly to "Tartarus Gate" which leads directly to "Redemption".)

Enjoy!

* * *

"Buffy, we're getting massacred, here!" shouted Komiwy. He grabbed up another magical fireball, but was struck down by a Dalek blast before he could throw it.

"Retreat!" Buffy commanded.

But she didn't know who could still hear her. She needed to find Mervengyl. Find out what was taking her so long. The plan should have been in action by now!

What had gone wrong?

"Buffy!" came a voice from below.

Buffy looked down to discover Yiprit, scuttling after her, trying to retreat alongside her. He was armed with a mystical gun that sucked the life from anything it was pointed at.

That had worked on the Daleks for the first ten minutes.

By now, they'd figured out how to neutralize it.

"I don't have time, now!" Buffy said. "I've gotta save all these…!"

"It's important!" Yiprit insisted. "The ring. On your finger. How stable is it?"

"What?!"

"Can you control where it takes you?" Yiprit asked. "Have you been just traveling across dimensions? Or have you been jumping through time, too?"

"I… I don't…" Buffy looked down at the ring on her finger. "I don't know."

Yiprit surged forwards, faster. "The Doorway," he said. "You have to get through—!"

Then, in unison, every single person on the battlefield screamed.

Including Yiprit.

Hands all going up to their heads, clutching them as if something were seeping through their brains, melting them from the inside.

They dropped in place.

Reaching out, crying for help. Leaving no one but Buffy and the Daleks standing.

"Yiprit?!" Buffy cried, dropping down beside him.

Yiprit squinted at her through his single good eye. "All these Hell Dimensions," he said, his voice weak. "All those Daleks. And… only _once_ … did you arrive… too…"

He cried out, again.

Then died, in Buffy's arms.

For a few seconds, Buffy couldn't move. Just trying to process what had happened. How the Daleks had managed to reach inside everyone's minds and destroy them, in a single second.

Then the whine of Daleks advancing.

And Buffy sprung back to her feet. Running, fast as she possibly could, away from the Daleks. Nowhere left to run to. Nowhere left to go. But she needed to get away from them, because she could still feel the pain of that nightmare — where everyone she knew was dead, and she hadn't shown up to save them.

Where her daughter was…

"I can't die before I save my daughter!" Buffy told herself. "She's in danger! I have to save her!"

She was stopped by a swarm of flying Daleks, cutting her off at the front.

She turned, but the Daleks were already pressing in behind her. And on either side. Daleks further than she could make out. All penning her in.

Eyestalks glaring.

Buffy took a deep breath.

Held it.

They didn't kill her.

"You're… not going to kill me," Buffy said, at last. Now knowing it was a certainty. "You've been missing me on purpose. Everywhere I go."

One of the Daleks slid forwards. "YOU WILL OBEY DALEK COMMANDS," it demanded. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

"What commands?" Buffy demanded. Summoning up her courage, so she could lean down to glare at it. "What do you want me to do?!"

"LEAVE."

Buffy blinked.

Confused.

She stumbled backwards, just a little, but ran into the Daleks at her back. "You… want me to… huh?"

"YOU WILL LEAVE," the Dalek demanded. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"EXTERMINATE!" the sea of Daleks chanted, excitedly. Gun stalks twitching. "EXTERMINATE!"

"Leave?!" Buffy cried. "But…!"

Then it crashed on top of her.

The horrible truth.

Why they hadn't been exterminating her.

"You recognized me as human," Buffy said. Fidgeting with the ring around her finger. "From your universe. You knew that if you followed me… I'd lead you home."

"CORRECT."

"That's what Yiprit meant — there was only one world I'd gotten to too late," Buffy said. "You haven't been going through wiping out every Hell Dimension in the multiverse. You've been following _me_. Going to the hell dimensions _I've_ gone to!"

"CORRECT."

A surge of anger and betrayal flooded through Buffy. "But you didn't get to everywhere I went!" Buffy shouted. "I beat you, right? I must have!" She threw her hand out, to gesture at the spot where she couldn't go, before. The Doorway. "And I've beaten you again. Nothing can get through the Doorway!"

"INCORRECT," said the Daleks. "NO STABLE DEVICE CAN BREACH THE DOOR."

Buffy hesitated. "Stable?"

"YOUR DEVICE CREATES TEMPORAL AND SPACIAL DISTORTIONS," said one Dalek.

"IT IS UNSTABLE," another agreed.

"THE INSTABILITIES NECESSITATED COURSE ALTERATIONS IN OUR SYSTEMS," said a third. "WHEN WE USED YOUR DEVICE TO COME THROUGH THE DIMENSIONS."

Buffy felt real fear burn through her.

"I… traveled in time, whenever I used this?" Buffy looked down at the ring around her finger. When was she? What if she made it out of Hell, and turned up millions of years too early? Or millions of years too late?!

"CORRECT."

"Oh, God," Buffy muttered. "Unstable time travel. That's why you couldn't get to everywhere I went to. And why I sometimes got there too late."

And who knew if she'd get out of here too late.

She guessed that only someone like her sister could make a ring like this that was actually _stable_. Everyone else… was just creating cheap replicas.

Buffy steeled her resolve.

"But it doesn't matter," said Buffy. "You guys are still beaten. I _can't_ get through the Doorway, even with unstable stuff. The moment I go through, this Hell Dimension will collapse."

" _YOU_ WILL NOT GO THROUGH," the Daleks informed her.

Buffy blinked.

Then swore.

Damn. She should have thought of that. Why did they need her to go through? If she opened the Doorway, they'd just exterminate her on the spot. The travel device didn't go through with them, the Hell Dimension wouldn't collapse, and they'd be free to get out of here.

"So that's it?" Buffy asked them. "Either you kill me, here and now. Or I open the Doorway, betray my universe, and you kill me anyways?"

"CORRECT."

Buffy crossed her arms. Thought it through.

"Okay," she decided. "Fine. I'll open the Doorway. Let me through, so I can get to it."

The Daleks parted for her.

As she advanced forwards. Feeling her ring burning around her finger. She bit her lip, sucking in the pain, as she stepped closer… and closer… towards it…

She couldn't see it, full on.

But if she squinted, focused really hard, using every power that ring had in it… she could see the Doorway. Looming, in front of her. An outline in the air, shimmering and faint but very, very present.

Buffy stopped.

"CONTINUE," the Daleks said. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

"I'm going to be exterminated either way," Buffy said. Stepped back, to give herself a running head start. "But there's one way I'll manage to take you guys down with me."

And launched herself forwards.

"If I make it through that Doorway!" Buffy shouted.

"EXTERMINATE!" the Daleks screamed, realizing Buffy's plan.

They fired at her, but Buffy was already flipping and jumping through the air, fast as she could, using every single Slayer instinct she had in her. Barely missing every single shot, some searing her hair as she dodged them.

She felt the burning, stabbing pain of her ring, unstable and sparking, the closer she got to the Doorway. Rolled along the ground, then flipped herself forwards, kicking down the door with her shoe, as it burst open for her.

The ring exploded.

As the Hell Dimension collapsed. Sucking together as the Daleks screamed, condensing down into a single point, unable to be moved or traversed ever again.

The Daleks gave one final shriek.

As they died.

* * *

Buffy thought she had to be dead.

Until she felt someone leaning over her body, hand in her pocket. Rifling through its contents.

Buffy's eyes popped open.

She grabbed the assailant's arm, and threw him over her shoulder, crashing into a nearby wall. Jumped back to her feet, aiming a kick at the next assailant, and elbowing a third in the ribs while grabbing the assailant's shoulder and jerking it out of place.

The assailants cried out.

"Give me back my letters," Buffy growled. "Now."

They ran into the distance, fast as they could. Paper spilling from their hands, tumbling down to the ground. Buffy sighed, then picked all the letters up.

Tucking them all away.

Some hadn't been given back. Some she'd never see again.

Her ring was gone forever. Probably burned out and useless, anyways.

But depending on where she was… maybe that didn't matter so much. If she got home, she didn't need the letters or the ring. She looked around herself. At the chaos and confusing swirling nearby her. The demons racing through the street, the fights breaking out everywhere…

Despite that, though, this place didn't feel like a Hell Dimension.

It didn't have the right tang in the air. Or the right feeling of hatred and malice permeating around Buffy. It felt more like… hanging out in the slums of a really large city.

Tall buildings loomed around her.

Streets drifting away into infinity.

Buffy gathered up her courage. She'd made it through the Doorway. Defeated the Daleks. How much harder could it be to get from here back to her own universe?

She stepped inside one of the shops. A tourist information center.

It was run by two burly demons.

"Let me guess," said one of the demons, sounding a little bored. "You're a mortal, looking for passage out of here. You don't know where you are or how you got here. And you don't have a single Immortal Soul to pay for anything."

"Uh… what?" said Buffy. "Immortal… huh?"

"Money," said the second demon, raising up a paper note, by way of demonstration. "You've got no money."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. Uh… huh… their currency was called 'Immortal Souls'?

And she thought gambling for kittens was bad!

"My advice?" said the second demon. "Get yourself a job and find somewhere to settle down. The walls between universes are sealed, now. You're not leaving anytime soon — and neither are the rest of us."

"Welcome to the Tartarus Gate," said the first demon. "Armpit of the multiverse."

The Tartarus Gate.

Just one more impossible hurdle, before Buffy was home. And could save her daughter.

 _A single act of kindness can change the course of history…_

Buffy didn't know what that meant.

But she was ready to find out.


End file.
